Popeye might be the most insulting adaptation of a classic arcade game

destructoid.com:

I really don’t know how you become the sort of person who would use the fantastic 1982 Popeye arcade game for evil. If someone told me they were remaking Popeye in 3D, I would think it was a strange concept, but I would never assume ill-intentions. Yet, somehow, Sabec got the license.

It’s strange to say they “got the license.” Popeye is technically in the public domain in Europe and will be in the U.S. in 2024. Maybe there’s a loophole there, but credit to King Features is presented on the title screen in a similar matter to the arcade classic. In any case, the developer of games like Teddy Gangs, Fight, and Calculator got their hands on Popeye and proceeded to sin.

The 1982 Popeye arcade game is a classic. It’s a single-screen action game similar to Donkey Kong. Astute readers probably remember that Donkey Kong came from legendary designer, Shigeru Miyamoto’s desire to create a Popeye game, but they couldn’t get the license in time. The next year, he’d get the opportunity and created Popeye with Genya Takeda.

Despite its origins, Popeye is not just a clone of Donkey Kong. Unlike the sedentary ape, Bluto pursues you throughout the level. Your goal is to collect hearts dropped by Olive Oyl while avoiding danger. Like in the cartoon, spinach gives Popeye the ability to punch the ever-loving crap out of Bluto, giving you a chance to grab a few more hearts unmolested until he pulls himself from the brine.

There are three levels in all, with the second one having you grabbing music notes and the third being letters in the word HELP. Then, as arcade games often do, it loops until the RAM can’t handle it anymore. Except not really. Popeye doesn’t have a kill screen. Bit of pointless trivia for you.

So, you may be saying,